he was my childhood , i lost jack tripper we all grew up on that show and still watch it on nick at night ( tacky to say this but could this be yet another threes company esc misunderstanding like john went and died his hair and don knotts only heard half of the sentence from joyce dewitt, while eves dropping while fixing a sink)

I am so saddened by all of this. I really enjoyed him in 8 Simple Rules and he was wonderful in Slingblade. But more importantly, he did seem like a genuinely wonderful guy who will be sorely missed.God bless his family and friends.

Conceived as a light-hearted comedy about a father raising two high school-aged girls, ABC's "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Daughter" is about to evolve.

"8 Simple Rules"-- and its viewers -- will now be forced to grow up, as the show tackles a subject normally confined to hourlong dramas: the death of a parent.

The necessary revamp comes as ABC and Touchstone execs announced Tuesday that the show -- albeit, a very different one -- will go on. Writers for "8 Simple Rules" are huddling this week to figure out how to handle the death of star John Ritter.

That includes exploring the passing of Ritter's character, Paul Hennessy, and the effect it has on the show's on-screen family.

"No question this show is now being turned 40 degrees to the right," said ABC Entertainment TV Group chairman Lloyd Braun. "We are going to be doing something here that we recognize is uncharted territory. I'm not sitting here saying we have all the answers. But this is the best thing for the show."

As it stands now, ABC will go forward with airing the three episodes of "8 Simple Rules" that Ritter had already taped, starting with the season premiere Tuesday. Introductions by members of the show's cast will be wrapped around each episode.

The series will then go into repeats, as production slowly resumes on new episodes. The show's fourth seg, which will revolve around the initial shock and loss of Ritter/Hennessy, will likely air in November.

"We're not recasting John, we're playing out the situation as real life has interceded," Braun said.

"8 Simple Rules" had faced an uncertain future following Ritter's death, from a heart condition, on Thursday. Braun and ABC Entertainment prexy Susan Lyne said they first considered halting the show altogether.

"That was our initial instinct, because John is clearly irreplacable," Lyne said. "But the more we talked about it, the more we saw the impact of his death not just in our family, but across the country, and felt there was another way to go here, that there was an opportunity to do something maybe that would break out."

"8 Simple Rules" is also a key property for the net and studio. Not only is it one of ABC's top-rated laffers, but it also commands some of the net's best sitcom ad rates. And while the net could have replaced the show with repeats or a comedy from another night, its absence would have been felt.

Braun, Lyne and Touchstone TV prexy Steve McPherson said they consulted with Ritter's wife, actress Amy Yasbeck, as well as the show's cast and exec producers (Tracy Gamble, Flody Suarez, Tom Shadyac and Michael Bostick) before ultimately deciding to continue.

The execs said the cast and crew will likely use the show's return as a catharsis, to work through the loss of Ritter. ABC also released a statement from Yasbeck, who gave her blessing to the relaunch of "8 Simple Rules."

"John always dealt with anything that life threw at him with humor," she said. "He felt so lucky to be working with such wonderful people every day. They all had such a warm friendship, and I know John would want his friends to be able to continue doing what they love."

Still, the show now faces a tough task: How to balance comedy with an honest portrayal of a family tragedy --something the show, created by Gamble and based on W. Bruce Cameron's book of the same name, wasn't developed to do.

In the history of primetime TV, few shows have had to cope with the loss of a lead character. And none have found a way to make it work.

Series like "Cheers," "The Sopranos" and "The District" have been able to absorb the void when a supporting actor or actress died. But shows that attempted to move on when their primary star died -- Redd Foxx on "The Royal Family," or Freddie Prinze on "Chico and the Man" -- couldn't survive such a huge blow.

"There aren't many examples where it's been tried, and fortunately it's not something that's happened very often," Braun said. "We'll try to do the best we can given our best judgment. We certainly can't point to precedent in past shows that support this decision. I do believe we'll put a powerful TV show on the air, and it will be a show we're proud to put on the air."

In the process, series co-star Katey Sagal, who plays matriarch Cate Hennessy, will now be required to carry much more of the show's weight -- as will Kaley Cuoco, Amy Davidson and Martin Spanjers, who play the Hennessy children.

"While no question John was the central figure of the show, we have some fantastic actors around him," Braun said. "Katey obviously being one of them, she is more than capable of taking on a greater role in the show. It will undoubtedly be more of an ensemble comedy now. I'd say that's the biggest change."

The execs said it was too soon to determine the show's storylines, including what characters might be added to the show to fill Ritter's absence, and whether name stars will join the show. Contrary to rumor, Henry Winkler -- who had been slated to guest star in the show's scrapped fourth episode -- has not been approached, they said.

Net and studio will be walking a tightrope in the coming months as they look to relaunch the show without appearing too crass. First up: ABC unleashed new promos Tuesday night, during the net's special tribute to Ritter, to promote the show's premiere in what execs hoped was a tasteful way.

Meanwhile, there are no plans to change the show's full title, despite its obvious reference to Ritter's character. And even though the show has dramatically changed, McPherson said he believed the studio would still be able to sell future episodes alongside Ritter's episodes when it comes time to sell "8 Simple Rules" into syndication.

"This will not be the end of one show and the beginning of another," he said.

Braun, Lyne and McPherson said they're also not sure how long the "8 Simple Rules" storylines will revolve around a family in mourning.

"This kind of thing hits real families, it hit the Ritter family," Braun said. "But as it feels right and organic, comedy will be reintroduced into this show." (As reported by VARIETY)

problem child 2 was a staple of my childhood. i think i re-watched the cockroack-in-the-food scene an infinite amount of times. that was probably one of the first 5 non-disney movies i ever watched. "It" with ritter was also a movie that deeply affected me as a child.

i was going through cvs today and noticed the cover of mad magazine, proudly proclaiming it had made a spoof of 8 Simple Rules. i looked at it saying "this must be an old issue" but finding oct, 2003 on there, i realized it wasn't. i opened it up and the first joke has ritter saying something like "i'm back on tv, but now i'm older, pudgier, and even cushier than before." that was really fucked up and it made me pissed off. i hope that issue had hit stands before his death and not after, when they had a chance to recall it. i don't know, it got me all riled up.

Logged

The corpses all hang headless and limp bodies with no surprises and the blood drains down like devil’s rain we’ll bathe tonight I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls Demon I am and face I peel to see your skin turned inside out, ’cause gotta have you on my wall gotta have you on my wall, ’cause I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls collect the heads of little girls and put ’em on my wall hack the heads off little girls and put ’em on my wall I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls

Tonight's hour-long episode of 8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter (CTV and ABC, 8 p.m.) gets off to a typical sitcom start. Kids are bickering, the studio audience is chuckling and mom's in the kitchen.

"Your dad will be home with the milk in a minute," Cate (Katey Sagal) tells her three warring kids. The phone rings, but we already know what happens. John Ritter is not coming home anymore.

His character, Paul, has a heart attack and dies at the grocery store. Ritter collapsed on the set of his series less than two months ago. He was 54.

The other actors and producers (and especially hit-starved ABC) all decided that the show must go on. Last month, Ritter's final episode drew 17.72 million U.S. viewers, making it one of the top-rated shows on TV.

Tonight's tender episode serves as a bittersweet bridge between what was a broad comedy based largely on Ritter's charismatic appeal and a story about a single mom and her multi-generational clan.

After the first commercial break, the tone completely changes. Gone is the familiar sitcom laughter. The kids and mom are in shock, with older daughter Bridget (Kaley Cuoco) feeling all the guilt from her last words to her father: "I hate you."

Enter Suzanne Pleshette and James Garner, two of the most reassuring people on the face of the earth. The old TV pros play Cate's separated parents, brought together at their daughter and grandchildren's hour of need.

The producers wisely play much of what follows straight. There are some teary -- and awkward -- moments at the funeral parlor. Larry Miller aces a difficult bit as The Guy Who Says The Wrong Thing -- then pulls it out at the end. John Ratzenberger and Patrick Warburton find the comedy moments that will resonate with anyone who has stifled a laugh at a funeral parlor.

Warburton, who plays Ritter's newspaper boss, mentions something to Cate about retrieving his last column. By the end of the episode, it is found, and, well, keep the Kleenex box handy.

The episode is filled with special moments; life lessons from grandfathers and grandsons, mothers and daughters. The sadness of an empty room and an empty pitcher of milk, of shoes left on the stairs.

Cate asks why God would let this happen. "We live under the impression that we get what we deserve," says Garner.

The final effect is a big, fat, group hug for all of Ritter's fans to share. There are some indications that the show could go on, especially in the scenes between crotchety-but-lovable Garner and the Hennessy's youngest, Rory (Martin Spanjers). Sagal shows she can handle drama even better than comedy.

But, as her character Cate wistfully says, "somebody's going to have to take up the cornball slack around here." Amen